Blackmail
by NutzForTheBucks
Summary: Here's a short one shot for a possible explanation to Ezra's involvement with the 'A squad'


_**EZRA**_

He pounded his fist against his steering wheel in frustration. Why was this so hard? He couldn't recall a time when he had ever cared about anyone or anything as much as he did about her. Following them to Ravenswood had been the smartest thing he'd done all year. They'd found the lair, so that would need to be changed. He released an aggravated huff before throwing the car into drive and pulling out onto the deserted Rosewood streets.

This whole situation was a huge mess. She was the reason he had gotten involved with this to begin with but he would do anything for her. Anything. Thinking back on that night, he shuddered with the coldness of the memory. He had just started teaching at Rosewood and things were about to get crazy.

_Start of Flashback_

_Walking into his apartment from a late day of teaching and grading assignments, he almost tripped over the package that was lying just inside of his door. Curiously, he picked the package up and looked for any sort of address or card to inform him of its sender. Finding nothing, he carefully peeled the plain brown wrapping paper off before lifting the lid of what appeared to be a shoe box. He sucked in a shocked breath at what lay inside._

_There were pictures. Lots of them. Each one showing him and Aria. Holding hands as they walked down the street in Philadelphia. Cuddling on his couch. Kissing outside of his apartment._

_This was blackmail, he was sure of it._

_Looking through each of the photos, he came across a letter that was clearly addressed to him. Unfolding the paper, he began to read with a high level of anxiety._

_I know what you need to keep secret. If you want this to remain hidden, then you will meet me Saturday. 11PM. Corner booth at Hollis Tavern. Come alone._

_He didn't need to think about it twice. He would meet whoever this was. He had to in order to protect Aria._

_Saturday came and 11pm found Ezra tucked away in the shadows, anxiously awaiting his unknown guest in the corner booth at Hollis Tavern. A shadow crossed the table before someone slid in next to him. Glancing up, Ezra's face blanched before he could control his emotions._

"_Wren?! I-I-… I don't understand…" Ezra stammered. They had hung out once or twice at a few Hollis parties during their undergraduate years._

_Wren let out a chuckle. "I need your help, Ezra. And I know for a fact that you need mine. So we're going to make a deal."_

_Ezra looked at him in complete confusion. What could Wren possibly need his help with? And why was he blackmailing him?_

"_Do you remember that summer I spent at Cape May? I met up with you and Hardy at the end of the summer for one last shibang and told you all about the hot summer I had spent with this unbelievable girl? Well, that girl turned out to be Alison DeLaurentis."_

_Ezra was overcome with shock. Looking around he lowered his head and whispered, "You mean that girl that was killed a year or two ago?"_

_Wren nodded his head. "I'm in trouble, Man. I didn't know she was underage. She hadn't even told me her name. I started med school that fall and suddenly, she's on my doorstep telling me she's pregnant. I flipped." Taking a long draw from his beer, Wren nervously ran a hand through his hair. "I had just started seeing Melissa Hastings and I had knocked up some teenage girl who happened to be best friends with her younger sister? I told her I wanted nothing to do with her. Yelled for her to get out. She ended up leaving and I ended up getting smashed at some nearby bar."_

_Ezra shook his head in disbelief. This story wasn't going to end well, he had a gut wrenching feeling about that._

"_I was too drunk to drive home from the bar so I decided to walk. I thought that Melissa's place was a lot closer than mine so I started cutting through backyards to get there. I ran into Alison behind her house. No one was home. It was almost like she was waiting on me. I'm not sure how it happened, but one thing led to the next and we were in a full blown argument. She told me- she told me that she'd get my student visa revoked. That I'd be sent back to Europe with nothing more than the clothes on my back, drained of every last penny in my bank account, if I didn't help her. I panicked and picked up the closest thing I could find. It was one hit. One hit…"_

_Wren angrily grasped the glass in his hand, so hard that Ezra was afraid it would break at any second._

"_I got rid of her body and for a while, everything was fine. Then the police found her and I started getting these messages. From someone who called themselves 'A.' They blackmailed me into doing whatever they wanted in exchange for keeping my secret. Ezra, they think that Alison's still alive and they've been using me to find her."_

_Ezra sat back into the booth, absorbing what Wren had just told him. "What does this have to do with me?"_

"_Your girl has been getting messages from A as well." Ezra sucked in a breath at that. "I'm close to finding out who this person is. But I think that we could use their game to our advantage."_

"_How? How could any good possibly come from this?" Ezra hissed._

_At this, Wren sent a conceded smirk in Ezra's direction. "This 'A' is going to crack. Soon. If Alison is alive as they think, then I need to find her. To stop her from ruining my life. You're going to help. I'm almost positive that Alison's little friends know more about where she is than they think. Since A has already been in contact with them, we're going to take over when they implode upon themselves. We'll use this 'A' identity to track Alison down. Don't worry about what I plan to do after that. You'll be free from all of this after we find her. Just know that she's more conniving than the rest of them, and she deserves to be put away for good."_

_Ezra stared off into the darkly lit bar. He couldn't see a way out of this. And if helping to track down Alison meant that he could keep Aria safe, than that is what he would do._

_End of Flashback_

Pulling into his apartment complex he parked the car and rested his head against the steering wheel. He had developed a throbbing headache and just wanted to lie down. His passenger door was suddenly thrown open as Wren slid in and closed it behind himself.

"Start driving. I've found her."


End file.
